You Bet Your Life by Paul A Offit

Author:Paul A Offit [Paul A. Offit, MD]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 2021-09-21T00:00:00+00:00

On November 30, 1937, FDA chief Walter Campbell wrote a letter to Maise Nidiffer, the mother of little Joan Marlar. Campbell was responding to the letter that Nidiffer had sent to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt three weeks earlier:

My dear Mrs. Nidiffer,

Believe me when I say, Mrs. Nidiffer, that in the course of my thirty years in the Government service I have never had a more difficult assignment than the President’s request to reply to you. Your letter was laid before me during the weeks that we were desperately following up outstanding lots of the Elixir. I have looked at the lovely smiling face of your little girl and I think I realize in some measure your unending sorrow at a needless sacrifice.

I agree with you that it should not have been necessary for your baby to die to arouse public sentiment to the point that proper legislation will be enacted. If it is enacted—and I sincerely believe that there are strong and good men in both the House and Senate who have resolved that laws will be passed which will make a repetition of this tragedy impossible—it may be of some small comfort to you to know that your letter has had a real influence in bringing about this result.

With the most-sincere sympathy, I am

Sincerely yours,

W. G. Campbell, Chief

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.